What’s in a name?

Next to “How are you feeling?” and “When are you due?” the most frequent question is “Do you have a name yet?”. I think this question bugs me the most because it is so personal. I don’t think I’ve ever asked a pregnant woman this question before because it seems so odd that she would share it with me.

First, I’m a believer that you can’t name something until you meet it. For example, when we were thinking of getting a dog we had all these names lined up. Most memorable were Herky and Bert. I was 99.9% sure our dog would end up as a Herky or a Bert, instead we got a Charlie. Why? Because when we met our puppy he didn’t look like a Herky, or a Bert, he looked like a Charlie.

Second, I find it almost creepy when moms name their babies in utero and start referring to it by name. Something about it just gives me the heebie jeebies. Sorta like grown women who still refer to their fathers as “daddy”. ick.

And last but not least, you already know the sex of the baby and the general date of arrival. Let us have one inkling of surprise left to share with you on her birthday! That and I already have a hard enough time with unsolicited advice as I’m sure all pregnant women do. The last thing I need right now is a strangers opinion on a name.

In the end, it’s sort of a silly question to ask a pregnant woman anyways. I’m sure the pregnant woman you are inquiring to has had a list of baby names in her head since she was old enough to know that babies need names. So yes, there is a name, I’ve been working on my name list since I was 10. We even have a few favorites names, but we are not setting our hearts on one until we meet this little person in my womb and shake her hand. Then and only then will she be named.

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I completely agree! People asked me this all the time and it got really annoying. And in the end, we had decided on a name but still didn’t tell anyone. And it was a good thing that we didn’t because when Jake was born, we completely changed our minds about the name and chose something completely different. Believe it or not, until 5:59 am on May 21, 2009, he was going to be named Aidan. But, when he was born at 6:00 am, he was SOOO not an Aidan. Hence, Jacob.

We didn’t find out gender with either of our children, but we did mull over some names in advance. People were APPALLED that we didn’t know the gender and that we hadn’t picked out names yet. Horrified! I think for both kids it was over a week (yep!) before we decided 100% on their names. We really wanted to get to know them a bit. Take your time, there is only one chance to get it right. 🙂